“Sen. Cory Booker’s campaign will announce a slew of endorsements Thursday from New Jersey Democrats in a show of home state support so far unmatched by rival Democratic candidates for president,” CNN reports.
“Every Democrat in New Jersey’s congressional delegation is throwing their support behind the state’s junior senator — including 11 House members, among them House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, and Sen. Bob Menendez, who previously announced he would back Booker.”
Tom Moran: “He’s a rich target in crazy times like this, because he’s not a normal guy. He’s a vegan and a Rhodes Scholar, and he never touches alcohol or tobacco. He meditates daily, and Tweets quotes from Jewish scholars and Buddhist priests. He once supported vouchers for private schools, and he attends prayer meetings with a Republican senator who thinks climate change is a hoax. I like all that, myself. We’ll see how it goes over with factory workers in Toledo.”
“But put that aside. The core criticism of Booker is that he is a showboat with a silver tongue, a man whose real talent is promoting himself, not getting stuff done.”
“That last part — about not getting stuff done — is wildly unfair. He may be famous for that silver tongue, but he carries an iron hammer to work… Showboat? The man likes a camera, granted. But there’s a lot more to him than that.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who rose to prominence as Newark’s charismatic and ambitious mayor, announced Friday that he is running for president, CNN reports.
“Booker chose the first day of Black History Month to launch his campaign, timing that nods to Booker’s own heritage and suggests he will put it at the center of his pitch to voters.”
Washington Post: “His decision did not come as a surprise. Booker has been traveling to early-voting states for months, teasing his eventual entrance.”
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“Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) on Thursday began calling members of Congress informing them he is running for president and is quietly making overtures to members for support,” The Hill reports.
“Booker’s entry into the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race was widely expected, but his announcement on the heels of the successful presidential launch of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) suggests he and his team realized he could not allow his Senate colleague and fellow CBC member build too much momentum.”
Politico: “For Booker, the state presents an opportunity for an early show of strength next year with the Democratic Party’s most loyal bloc of voters. As one of the few African-American candidates likely to run, he’ll have a moment to break out of the crowded field after voting takes place in overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire.”
“For Sanders, it’s an opening to move beyond his dismal 2016 performance with black voters here, when he won only 26 percent of the total vote in the primary against Hillary Clinton and exposed a weakness that was repeated across the South.”
BuzzFeed News: “Should Booker run for president — a decision that could come as early as the end of the year, according to some members of his orbit — it will be in an idiosyncratic lane of his own making. If 2018 has divided Democratic politics into a puzzle of litmus tests, stark ideological labels, and an unending referendum on the mistakes of the campaign that made Donald Trump president, then Booker is a jagged piece at the center.”
New York Times: “Steve Phillips, an influential San Francisco-based Democratic donor and activist, said he would formally file paperwork on Thursday to create the pro-Booker super PAC, Dream United.”
“A first well-funded super PAC of 2020 could aid Mr. Booker in amplifying his message in what is expected to be a historically crowded field, and it speaks to the depth of his support from potential financiers. But such support could also backfire as the grass-roots base of the party is increasingly calling to curtail the political influence of the wealthy. Mr. Phillips said he had already collected $4 million in commitments. And he suggested he would continue collecting money regardless of whether Mr. Booker wanted his support.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) addressed rumors about his sexuality, telling the Philadelphia Inquirer that he is straight.
Said Booker: “I’m heterosexual. Every candidate should run on their authentic self, tell their truth, and more importantly, or mostly importantly, talk about their vision for the country.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) told the Newark Star Ledger, “I will consider running for president.”
He added: “That’s something that I will do. There’s people in New Jersey who are talking to me about it, across the country that are talking to me about it, so I will consider that.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) “is the first potential Democratic contender for the 2020 presidential nomination to make plans to visit the lead-off primary state since the midterm election two weeks ago, WMUR reports.
The centerpiece of Booker’s visit will be a New Hampshire Democratic Party ‘Post-Election Victory Celebration’ of gains made by the party’s candidates in the Nov. 6 election.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) “descended on Iowa Saturday night with ideal timing to strike a chord with Iowan Democrats,” ABC News reports.
“The senator from New Jersey, a long-rumored 2020 presidential candidate, arrived at the Iowa Democratic Party’s fall gala fresh off the Senate floor, where he voted not to confirm President Donald Trump’s embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.”
Said one attendee: “This whole thing feels like a therapy session and Sen. Booker is the therapist.”
“Of course the presidency will be something I consider. It would be irresponsible not to.”
— Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), in a profile in New York Magazine.
“Potential 2020 presidential contender Cory Booker (D) will come to South Carolina — a crucial early primary state — to campaign for James Smith, the Democratic nominee for governor,” The State reports.
“South Carolina has become an important test for White House contenders. It’s traditionally the first big test of a presidential candidate’s ability to win votes in the South and has been particularly significant for non-Southerners aiming to prove they have appeal in the region.”
“According to multiple sources, Cory Booker has placed four staffers on the ground in Iowa, helping Democratic candidates, as he moves to position himself for a potential presidential bid,” the Guardian reports.
“Placing staffers on campaigns is a time-tested way for potential presidential candidates to test the waters in early-voting states while building necessary political infrastructure.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) “will headline the Iowa Democratic Party’s fall gala next month in what will be the first Iowa appearance from a major 2020 potential presidential candidate this election cycle,” the Des Moines Register reports.
“Others candidates — both declared and considering—have appeared in the first-in-the-nation caucus state in recent months, but none have had the kind of national political profile that Booker carries.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in an interview that Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) could face scrutiny from the Senate Ethics Committee for violating a rule that prohibits the release of confidential material, the Washington Post reports.
“During Thursday’s hearing on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Booker said he was knowingly violating a Senate rule by releasing an email revealing the nominee’s views on racial profiling.”
“It turns out that document had already been cleared for public release. But later Thursday afternoon, Booker released what he said were 28 documents marked ‘committee confidential’ in a defiant bid to make the confirmation process more transparent.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) announced at the start of Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh that he would publicly release “committee confidential” documents, Axios reports.
Said Booker: “I am going to release the email about racial profiling. And I understand that the penalty comes with potential ousting from the Senate. And if Sen. Cornyn believes that I violated Senate rules, I openly invite and accept the consequences…the emails being withheld from the public have nothing to do with national security.”
“Everywhere Booker goes, the subject of a 2020 presidential run follows. And in the year-and-a-half since President Trump was elected, Booker has spent about half his weekends on the road, visiting most states where a Democratic senator is facing a tough re-election fight, including multiple visits to Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida, as well as stops last year in Indiana and Montana, a recent swing through Minnesota and Missouri and a trip this weekend to Virginia,” CNN reports.
“In an interview aboard the Acela, Booker says he’ll make a decision about whether to run for president at the end of this year.”
Said Booker: “I’m not going to play coy. I’m sure after the midterm elections, I’ll give it a look.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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